Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Book Review: Vixen

I was excited to run across this book in the library. You see, I have a thing for Flappers. The Roaring Twenties, with the drinks, the smokes, the dancing, the music, the clothes, and the vampy make-up--what's not to love? Okay, maybe there are people that don't get into that lifestyle, like a good God- fearing upstanding citizen during the oppressive Prohibition, but that's not me and that IS the reason I picked up the book. I have to admit I was also pretty excited to see a book that potentially could inspire young readers to pick up The Great Gatsby. You really can't read about Flappers and not have a throwback to the classics!

Vixen follows three characters and their journey to define themselves as young women during a time when a haircut could make or break your image and society was either a social prison (okay, maybe marriage and no cocktails is not a prison, but still...) or a party. Larkin's characters were very believable (even though there is one whose neck I'd love to ring, while looking waif-thin and throwing down a drink with an absolutely ridiculous name). As a fan of books with more action, there were times I felt a little uneasy with the pacing; and because the book followed three different journeys, I felt restless when the story was not focused on the character I was most interested in. The relationships between the characters, however, had all the drama you would expect from teenagers, and then some. Throw in a few jerky men and you've got yourself a good read.

I'm looking forward to reading the next in the Flappers, Ingenue. Here is what I'd love to read about: more descriptions of the outfits and make-up, more speakeasies and descriptions of them, and one character getting her neck wrung. KIDDING!

Summary From Goodreads:

Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.

Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?

Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .

Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . .

From debut author Jillian Larkin, VIXEN is the first novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic new series set in the Roaring Twenties . . . when anything goes.